Security News

YouTube is currently running what it describes as a "Small experiment globally," warning users to toggle off their ad blockers and avoid being limited to only three video views. As first spotted by a Reddit user on Wednesday, YouTube now displays a pop-up that notifies ad blocker users targeted by this test that "Video player will be blocked after 3 videos."

Google has backtracked on its plan to delete inactive YouTube videos-at least for now. Of course, it could change its mind anytime it wants.

YouTube is running an experiment asking some users to disable their ad blockers or pay for a premium subscription, or they will not be allowed to watch videos. Upon receiving this notification, users will have two options: either disable their ad blocker to allow YouTube ads or consider subscribing to YouTube Premium to get rid of all advertisements.

Cybersecurity researchers have detailed the inner workings of a highly evasive loader named "In2al5d p3in4er" that's used to deliver the Aurora information stealer malware. "The in2al5d p3in4er loader is compiled with Embarcadero RAD Studio and targets endpoint workstations using advanced anti-VM technique," cybersecurity firm Morphisec said in a report shared with The Hacker News.

Phishers are targeting YouTube content creators by leveraging the service's Share Video by Email feature, which delivers the phishing email from an official YouTube email address. The email informs the targets of a new monetization policy, new rules, and prompts them to view a video.

Threat actors have been increasingly observed using AI-generated YouTube Videos to spread a variety of stealer malware such as Raccoon, RedLine, and Vidar. "The videos lure users by pretending to be tutorials on how to download cracked versions of software such as Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Autodesk 3ds Max, AutoCAD, and other products that are licensed products available only to paid users," CloudSEK researcher Pavan Karthick M said.

An ongoing malware campaign targets YouTube and Facebook users, infecting their computers with a new information stealer that will hijack their social media accounts and use their devices to mine for cryptocurrency. Security researchers with Bitdefender's Advanced Threat Control team discovered the new malware and dubbed it S1deload Stealer due to its extensive use of DLL sideloading for evading detection.

Figure C. FTC: Crypto scams posted small numbers but lucrative in aggregate. In a June 2022 note, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said that crypto is proving a lucrative scam channel, with more than 46,000 people reportedly having lost a total of over $1 billion in crypto to scams since 2021.

Following yesterday's deadly blast on İstiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkish authorities began restricting access to social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Telegram as a nationwide broadcast ban went into effect. Reports of a bomb blast taking place on Istanbul's busy İstiklal street began circulating on Sunday, November 13th on social media platforms.

A popular Chinese-language YouTube channel has emerged as a means to distribute a trojanized version of a Windows installer for the Tor Browser. The malicious version of the Tor Browser installer is being distributed via a link present in the description of a video that was uploaded to YouTube on January 9, 2022.